Helen Simoneau Danse's DELICATE POWER Comes to SMDCAC Next Month

Featuring an exploration of power, vulnerability, and intimacy, Helen Simoneau Danse: Delicate Power comes to the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (SMDCAC) on Friday, August 5 at 8:30 p.m., Saturday, August 6 at 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, August 7 at 3:30 p.m.

Delicate Power is an ensemble work, with an architectural composition that layers multiple groupings of dancers entering, passing, and exiting, connecting with audiences through an exploration of power and opposing sentiments, movements, and tableaus. Simoneau's work examines relationships - yielding, exerting, or sharing control - and explores the question, "What does power look like without the need for dominance?"

"We are excited to welcome Guggenheim Fellow Helen Simoneau and her dancers to Miami. Audiences recently witnessed Helen's choreography with its intimacy, agency, and sexuality as a guest choreographer for Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami. This production marks the premiere of the company in Miami," said Eric Fliss, Managing Director of the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center.

"Delicate Power and Babe, an excerpt of Simoneau's evening-length work DARLING, focus on relationships, and provide a fascinating exploration of identity, strength, and power dynamics - and dancemaking on the whole."

Described as "decidedly in the now... and after," the piece features an original score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and musician Caroline Shaw, with dramaturgy by Melanie George and costume design by Quinn Czejkowski. Incorporated into the night's programming is Babe, an excerpt of Simoneau's evening-length work, DARLING, which explores intimacy, vulnerability, and touch in all relationships.

Helen Simoneau is a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow and was named a "Choreographer on the Rise" with a style that is both "athletic and smooth" by Dance Magazine. This summer, Simoneau's series was paired with an intimate dance talk hosted by the SMDCAC. The July 27 talk, presently featured on the Center's Facebook, examins themes such as gender definition, female strength, and individuality with dancers Thryn Saxon and Can Wang. Helen Simoneau also revealed her inspiration and background as a contemporary dancemaker.

This presentation was made possible by South Arts and the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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